Fishing: Big kingfish provide real treat for visitors

Big kingfish have been the flavour of the week in both Manukau Harbour and the Hauraki Gulf. Fishing with Sky TV's Fishing NZ host Adam Clancey we nailed three fish in the 18kg to 22kg rangefor some South Island visitors.

Usual fare for Rex Scoble from Blenheim and Nigel Hamilton from Christchurch is blue cod, nice eating but little fun to catch. Cod can't pull 200m of line at speed, changing direction and diving under the boat as the kingfish do.

The kingies were around all day, mouthing kahawai towed as livebaits until they fell from the rig. They only came splashing from the water to attack in the hour prior to high tide. We apply the daily bag limit of three per person to the boat - it's plenty of fish and smoked by the Jelas family at Mt Eden Fisheries, can't be beaten.

The bigger kingfish are around the reefs. Smaller school fish, still over the 75cm size limit, can be taken on jigs on the sand near the rocks around Motutapu, Rakino and Pakatoa. The Sargent's Channel is working well with lots of jack mackerel schools, kahawai and kingfish working them and snapper beneath.

Snapper straylining is good morning and night for the bigger fish, with 'pannies' in the 2kg to 4kg range vigorously attacking flasher rigs with cubed baits of bonito, pilchard or squid through the day.

On the Manukau the bite-time has been on the rising tide in the morning. The kingfish have been attacking trolled lures as well as live-baits, with weighted green poppers effective. The average snapper in the harbour appear to be bigger this year with plenty around 35cm to 40cm.

The marlin bonanza has cooled somewhat, with plenty of fish still chasing lures but the bite less aggressive.